Motherhood Essays

Growing up in South Carolina with a family that goes back ten generations, Cameran Eubanks knew from a young age that Southern women are expected to want the white picket fence life. But Cameran has never been your typical Southern belle. Now, she takes you deeper into her life—from her first foray into reality TV to dating to the honest truth about her pregnancy and motherhood—to get to know the person behind the camera. Charming, hilarious, and a hell of a lot fun, One Day You’ll Thank Me is for anyone who has ever wondered if they should or can follow their dreams.

In this anthology of creative nonfiction, 28 writers set out to discover what they know, and don't know, about the person they call Mother. Celebrated writers Samia Serageldin and Lee Smith have curated a diverse and insightful collection that challenges stereotypes about mothers and expands our notions of motherhood in the South. The mothers in these essays were shaped, for good and bad, by the economic and political crosswinds of their time.

Join Leslie Means, founder of the popular website Her View From Home, as she weaves together a powerful, emotional collection of essays from women of all ages and stages. These real-life, straight-to-the-heart stories will make you laugh, cry, and nod along. No two mothers are alike. No two experiences in motherhood mirror each other. But something powerful happens when our stories come together: they speak love, worth, value, and beauty. They take the undefinable experience of motherhood and give it shape and substance and strength. They speak to us all.

An inspiring and revealing essay about motherhood, self-acceptance, and overcoming the fears that hold you back by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Open Book.

After a friend real-talks Mindy into hiring a baby nurse, she finds the help she needs--and so much more--in this soulful essay by the acclaimed writer, actress, producer, and director. Becoming a new mother after losing her own, Mindy Kaling needs help--like someone to answer the questions What is a baby, and why don’t they have kneecaps? Enter Rose. The in-demand, dedicated baby nurse alleviates Mindy’s fears, from the minor to the profound.

When Mindy and her best friend, B.J. Novak, are approached on a dark street by a Charles Manson-esque character, naturally they’re unnerved. Turns out he’s a huge fan of The Office! Now Mindy’s feeling a little judgy. But the night is young, unseasonably hot, and getting weirder. Mindy and B.J.’s brief encounter with the drifter is about to take an unexpected turn in Sunset Junction.

In a series of intimate and humorous dispatches, McOuat examines her identity as a queer woman, and as a mother, through the lens of the pop culture moments in the '80s and '90s that molded her identity. McOuat stirs the ingredients required to conjure an unsettled spirit: the horrors of pregnancy and motherhood, love and loss, the supernatural, kaleidoscopic sexuality, near-miss experiences, and the unexplained moments in life that leave you haunted.

In this 10th anniversary edition, renowned political commentator Cokie Roberts once again examines the nature of women's roles. From mother to mechanic, sister to soldier, Roberts reveals how much progress has now been made and how much further we have to go. Updated and expanded to include a diverse new cast of women, including Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush, Billie Jean King, and others, this collection of essays offers tremendous insight into the opportunities and challenges that women encounter today.

In a letter to her six-year-old daughter, Julietta Singh ventures toward a tender vision of the future, lifting up children’s radical embrace of possibility as a model for how we might live. If we wish to survive the looming political and ecological crises of our day, Singh contends, we must break from the conventions we have inherited, and orient ourselves toward revolutionary paths that might yet set us free. The Breaks celebrates queer family-making, communal living, and Brown girlhood, complicating the US’ stark binaries.

In this emotionally powerful and intellectually provocative blend of memoir, cultural criticism, and theory, scholar and essayist Samira Mehta reflects on many facets of being multiracial. Born to a white American and a South Asian immigrant, Mehta grew up feeling more comfortable with her mother’s family than with her father’s—they never carried on conversations in languages that she couldn’t understand or blamed her for finding the food was too spicy.

Anna Prushinskaya explores the deep life shifts of pregnancy, birth and motherhood in the United States, a world away from the author's Soviet homeland. Drawing from inspirations as various as midwife Ina May Gaskin, writer and activist Alice Walker, and frontierswoman Caroline Henderson, Prushinskaya captures the inherent togetherness of motherhood alongside its accompanying estrangement. She plumbs the deeper waters of compassion, memory and identity, as well as the humorous streams of motherhood as they run up against the realities of work and the ever-present eye of social media.

The intersection of motherhood and creative life is explored in these writings on mothering that turn the spotlight from the child to the mother herself. Here, in memoirs, testimonials, diaries, essays, and fiction, mothers describe firsthand the changes brought to their lives by pregnancy, childbirth, and mothering.

A glimpse into the mind of a laid-back yet stressed-out, insecure, sleep-starved, TV-obsessed, news-junkie, Generation X parent navigating the labyrinth of modern parenthood with three young children, including a set of twins. From critiquing fashionistas who try to convince the pregnant public to buy maternity thongs and discussing whether at-home moms have sold out their feminist sisters, to tackling topics such as how to have a sex life while three kids are pounding on their parents' locked bedroom door, how to look cool while driving a mini-van (a clue: you can't) and what happens when ...

Aman a sus hijos, pero se arrepienten de ser madres. #madresarrepentidas es un tratado de pensamiento radical que no dejará indiferente a nadie. En este ensayo controvertido, tan minucioso como iluminador, la socióloga Orna Donath examina la dimensión del tabú, desactiva los dictados sociales y deja que sean las propias madres quienes hablen de sus experiencias. Así, #madresarrepentidas se erige como un nuevo e imprescindible manifiesto feminista, llamado a romper barreras.

In her literary debut, internationally award-winning writer Courtney Zoffness considers what we inherit from generations past - biologically, culturally, spiritually - and what we pass on to our children.

Time Lived, Without Its Flow is an astonishing, unflinching essay on the nature of grief from critically acclaimed poet Denise Riley. From the horrific experience of maternal grief Riley wrote her lauded collection Say Something Back, a modern classic of British poetry. This essay is a companion piece to that work, looking at the way time stops when we lose someone suddenly from our lives.

Acclaimed author Lauren Slater ruminates on what it means to be family. Lauren Slater's rocky childhood left her cold to the idea of ever creating a family of her own, but a husband, two dogs, two children, and three houses later, she came around to the challenges, trials, and unexpected rewards of playing house. In these autobiographical pieces, Slater presents snapshots of domestic life, populating them with the gritty details and jarring realities of sharing home, life, and body in the curious institution called "family."

Three years ago, Stacey Duguid's happily ever after imploded messily, snottily, disastrously, and she is still clearing up the debris. The dream marriage she'd spent an entire lifetime pursuing shattered, leaving her half a person and angry. Who suggested 'happily ever after' was even a given thing? In this collection of essays, Stacey draws upon her own life to touch upon everything taboo today: divorce, dating and sex in mid-life, affairs, miscarriage, drugs, and challenges the societal expectations and ideologies of needing a partner to live a full life.

Sarah Ferguson's homage to her mother and a reflection on mothers and daughters. A mother's love over decades and across continents. The sudden death of Sarah's mother reveals their relationship with poignant clarity and shows her the individual who existed beyond motherhood.

Are you planning for or expecting a newcomer in your family? Are you raising young children and could use every bit of advice you can get? "No one said it would be easy, but it would be worth it." The maxim that applies in many cases is so true here. Here’s a book chock-full of tips and ideas to help you not just understand the process of parenting but enjoy it. Do you want to turn your everyday parenting challenges into a fulfilling experience? This book is for you. While written mainly for parents with young kids, parents of tweens and teens would also benefit from the book.